Man Arrested in North Andover for Smuggling Tool Used for WMDs

A man was arrested Tuesday in a North Andover hotel in connection with supplying China with WMD materials while working in China for an Andover-based firm.

MKS-Shanghai employee and Chinese citizen Qiang "Johnson" Hu, 47, allegedly set up illegal exports of the pressure transducers -- a key component in making weapons-grade uranium -- processed through the headquarters of MKS Instruments on Tech Drive in Andover and used his employee status to illegally ship them into China.

Roughly $6.5 million worth of pressure transducers were sent to China to unknown recipients.

The U.S. Attorney's Boston office is now trying Hu in U.S. District Court in Boston for violating US Department of Commerce laws, facing up to 20 years in jail and a possible $1 million fine, according to court documents.

MKS Instruments released a statement about the charges and said that they are cooperating with authorities and conducting their own investigation into the matter.

"MKS is cooperating with the investigation and U.S. government authorities have made it clear that MKS is not a target of the investigation," read a statement from MKS Instruments in Andover.

Using pre-existing export licenses as well as naming false customers, Hu, along with two other co-conspirators, were able to produce illegal documents to initiate the scam. He then prompted the Andover office to "unwittingly" apply for fraudulent export licenses for the transducers.

The pressure transducers, of which there are several different models, have many commercial applications but are "export-controlled." This is mainly because the transducers can also measure gas pressure while enriching uranium that can be used for a nuclear weapon.

Hu is in custody and is scheduled for a detention hearing on May 31. If convicted, he facesup to  20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.